Hawley Editorial Feb. 19, 2007

At the recent AKCA board meeting there was obviously a vote in favor of providing AKCA status to Internet Koi of America (IKONA), which runs the popular KOISHACK forum, but two voted against their admission. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it a rare event for a club seeking admission into AKCA to get a single let alone two no votes?!
This is a sign for me that the inclusion of the IKONA koi club into the ranks of AKCA was considered controversial at best and devisive at worst. While there are obviously benefits to extending AKCA status to the operators of KOISHACK, KOIBITO, NEWTS, and whoever else might want it there is a downside. James Reilly recently pointed out one pitfall when he claimed recently that there are toxic personalities in the hobby that bounce from one club and forum to the next starting new ones because of unresolved disagreements, etc. where these new orgs fizzle out after the reason for their creation fades away. Bill Thompson a proponent of IKONA inclusion and various progressive concepts for the hobby told me in an interview that it wasn't numbers of clubs so much as an increase in members that he thought was most important for AKCA. "Half a dozen families will get together and form a club and there are those other smaller clubs that may exist for a year or two and then they may disappear because of various reasons, but I think that the AKCA is strong," Thompson said. "What I would like to see is the number of clubs not necessarily increase but the number of members in each club increase. I’d like to see AKCA get out there and do what they can to help these clubs grow.” (http://www.koicluboftheair.org/newsletter/KCOTA_FishWrap_January2007.html)
His response was related to my asking his opinion about a loss of club numbers in late 2006. And Thompson who is running for Vice Chair of AKCA in the May elections certainly wants the hobby and AKCA to grow. Yet, would numerous Internet koi forum koi clubs or a single one best serve the purpose of growing the hobby? Are there any matrices that AKCA can, should, or does use to measure the growth of AKCA against the gross numbers of koi and water garden sales? I think there should be a move increasingly in this direction and coordination between the AKCA board with their clubs through directors and more. As Thompson noted we need to grow the numbers of members in each club more than growing the number of clubs. Maybe there could be a national campaign providing special recognition to clubs with the greatest number increases per month and per annum along with reporting on what those clubs did to improve membership that would likewise be established as national campaign standards and member clubs encouraged to adopt those strategies or alternatives. Merely adding KOISHACK as a new AKCA club won't cut it in the broader picture if we truly want to grow the hobby.